Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

Celebrant: With trust and joyful expectation, let us present all our needs to the Father.

Deacon/Lector:

That the People of God throughout the world may persevere in prayer to their Father, who knows how to give them good things, we pray to the Lord...

That we may never tire of petitioning the Lord as well as elected officials to restore legal protection to children growing in the womb, we pray to the Lord…

For those who are far away from the Church, especially within our own families, that they may respond to the call of repentance and reconciliation, we pray to the Lord...

That travelers and vacationers may be kept safe both in body and spirit, and that their leisure activities may bring them closer to the Lord, we pray to the Lord...

That those who are ill may be strengthened and comforted, and that those who have died may be received into eternal life, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father, 
You have taught us to bring all our needs to you.
As you answer our prayers,
Fill us with the joy of being disciples
Of your Son Jesus Christ,
Who is Lord forever and ever. Amen. 

From a Former Abortion Provider

“On October 23rd, I went and did my last abortions on just a few patients. And I knew it would be the last day. And that evening, I said No to money and Yes to God. The next day I went down to church and confessed with my mouth that Jesus was Lord. Then, on the way out of church, I saw this blue brochure for a crisis pregnancy center. I just looked at it and kind of felt that this was what I should be involved with. The next day I called up the center and told them I was a doctor in Atlanta and had done many, many thousands of abortions, and that I came to Christ the day before and now wanted to do everything to save babies instead of take their lives.” – Dr. Joseph Randall. 

Gn 18:20-32
Col 2:12-14
Lk 11:1-13

Watch a video with homily hints

Jesus told us that if we ask, we will receive. That is what Abraham also knew and carried out in the first reading. His prayer called upon the mercy of God. Jesus says that the greatest good we can ask for is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brings that mercy, and enables us to say “Our Father.” When we pray in that way, we are (like Abraham) calling down God’s mercy on all our brothers and sisters. We are in fact defining ourselves as brothers and sisters because of the fact that we all have one Father.

This has implications. No longer can we exclude any person from our love. Love is indivisible, and must be extended to every human being. This is the basis of our pro-life convictions. In its broadest sense, the acknowledgment of God as Father extends to his role as Creator and affirms the responsibility we have to every human being (whether Christian or not) because he/she was made by and is loved by God.

Hence, the unborn and the terminally ill cannot be excluded from personhood, from prayer, from protection, or from practical help.

When we ask, we receive. We should invite our people to join the ongoing worldwide novena to end abortion, at www.PrayerCampaign.org. What we receive, furthermore, is not simply an answer to our prayer in the form of God doing something. What we receive is part of the heart of God. He makes us compassionate as he is, and he gives us the grace to live out that compassion as true brothers and sisters united in the Holy Spirit with one Father.